Real Madrid [Images] midfielder Luis Figo has apologised for a challenge on Real Zaragoza defender Cesar Jimenez that will leave the player on the sidelines for between six and eight months.

Jimenez will undergo surgery on Thursday after tearing his cruciate ligament and suffering muscle and cartilage damage when Figo slid into him with his studs up during Sunday's league match, which Real Madrid won 3-1.

"I'm really sad about it," Figo told the Real Madrid website on Tuesday. "At no time did I want to hurt him. We were both going for the ball as hard as we could. I went in with my eyes closed and he got there first.

"I don't feel good about it. I hope he can get back to full fitness as soon as possible."

Cesar himself excused the Real Madrid player for his actions.

"I don't feel any resentment towards him," he told sports daily Marca. "He apologised to me and clearly felt very bad about it. I don't think any players deliberately set out to injure their opponents."

However, his club Zaragoza issued a strong-worded criticism of referee Javier Jose Losantos Omar who failed to penalise Figo for the challenge and made several other controversial decisions during the game.

He also rejected claims for a penalty when Zaragoza striker David Villa was wrestled to the ground by Real defender Michel Salgado and allowed a Ronaldo [Images] goal to stand even though Figo had provided him with the pass from an offside position.

"We want to express our indignation at the biased performance from the referee, whose decisions were of decisive influence in the outcome of the game," read a statement issued by the club on Tuesday.

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